The book presents thirteen views on the history of treatment in the five Nordic countries.

The settings described vary from countryside sanatoriums for the voluntary treatment of middle-class alcoholics in late 19th century Sweden, to large, prison-like institutions in all the Nordic countries, used for compulsory treatment emphasising work and moral edification, to the contemporary public injecting rooms in the city of Oslo. The actors include entrepreneurs, doctors, jurists, temperance activists, bureaucrats and social reformists.

These snapshots are framed by an introductory chapter and a concluding article, drawing some general conclusions about the development of alcohol and drug treatment in the Nordic countries.

The anthology is edited by Johan Edman and Kerstin Stenius and it can be ordered online here.

The Nordic Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research (NAD) homepage can be accessed here.

An article in "The American Journal on Addictions", based on data from HealthTeam has been published in 2007. Abstract of The CAGE as a Measure of Hazardous Drinking in the Homeless, Authors, M.Hesse and H.Thiesen, can be accessed here.

In the search for optimal biomarkers of excessive drinking, a central limitation has been the lack of sensitivity of measures. Many patients have apparently normal values of liver markers despite a considerable alcohol intake. This study aimed to test a novel combined indicator of alcohol drinking.